The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Iranian Psychiatric Trainees’ and Early Career Psychiatrists’ Well-Being, Work Conditions, and Education Publisher Pubmed



Eissazade N¹ ; Shalbafan M¹ ; Saeed F² ; Hemmati D¹ ; Askari S¹ ; Sayed Mirramazani M³ ; Eftekhar Ardebili M¹ ; Gondek TM⁴ ; Pinto Da Costa M^{5, 6}
Source: Academic Psychiatry Published:2022

Abstract

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists in Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, the authors used a 24-item questionnaire inquiring about the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, their views on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their professional careers, methods of education, workplace environment, well-being and mental health, and the use of telepsychiatry in Iran. Results: A total of 159 responses were received. The majority (n=124, 78.0%) reported that “some but not all obligatory activities have been converted to online activities.” Most of the participants (n=103, 64.8%) stated that the pandemic had not affected the duration of their training. Less than half (n=61, 38.4%) reported that their well-being had been affected rather negatively. Some (n=59, 37.1%) reported that their supervisors or coworkers had no significant impact on their well-being, whereas others (n=53, 33.3%) reported a rather positive impact. Almost half of the participants (n=78, 49.0%) did not have access to free psychological counseling. In addition, more than half (n=89, 56.0%) reported that there were no recommendations on how to proceed with telepsychiatry. Conclusions: This study calls for improvements in the education and well-being of psychiatric trainees and early career psychiatrists in Iran amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional research should be carried out to maximize learning, provide mental health care, and use telepsychiatry. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry, American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, Association for Academic Psychiatry and Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.